1. ACTION RESEARCH: DEVELOPING AND ACHIEVING SPN 21 STANDARDS
Report on the test given to year 4 students in Sekolah Rendah Mabohai using Trends
in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS4) test paper.
Date of the test: 1st July 2010
Time: During Mathematics period
No. of students: 48 students
Year: 4A, 4B and 4C
As shown below is the original test paper that was taken from TIMSS 2003 4 th-Grade
Mathematics concepts and Mathematics Items.

2. The test paper below has been modified by changing name of school and the name
of classes and was given to the students.
Bar graph: Which two shows 80 bottles?
Mabohai Primary School had a bottle collection. Children in each class brought
empty bottles to school. The principal made a bar graph of the number of bottles
from five classes.
Which two classes collected exactly 80 bottles?
(A) 4A and 4C classes
(B) 4A and 4E classes
(C) 4C and 4D classes
(D) 4D and 4E classes
The correct answer is (A) 4A and 4C classes

3. During the test, the teacher only allowed to explain in English.
Student’s response:
1) 47 out of 48 students answer A
2) Only 1 student answer C
3) None of the students answer B and D
As mention above, the correct answer is (A) 4A and 4C classes. So only one student could
not answer the question correctly.
Intervention:
Since only one student got it wrong, I have called out the student to do the test one more
time. At this test, I ask the student what is the problem that he had with this question.
The problem:
1) Don’t understand the question because it is in English
2) Don’t know how to read the graph.
How to solve the problem:
1) By explaining the question in Malay Language.
2) By showing how to read the bar graph

4. After I explain the question in Malay Language and show him how to read the bar graph,
then the student able to answer the question easily.
Conclusion:
When the test was given to all 48 students, only one student cannot answer it correctly.
When compare to international average, student year 4 in Brunei Darussalam can achieve
higher overall percentage that is 98%, the same with Hongkong, SAR students result. It
shows that most of the Bruneian students able to read and interpret bar graph to answer the
question and for the low ability student, the teacher should explain thoroughly and if possible
use the language that the student is familiar with and strategies that can make them
understand better. So that not only high and average students can achieve the
understanding of the concept in mathematics but also the students will low ability. In order to
achieve SPN 21 standards, we must be able to develop different type of teaching and
learning strategies to meet with different type of student’s abilities.
Done by:
Azrenah binti Haji Yakub
Sekolah Rendah Mabohai, Brunei I
22nd July 2010